Closing means of casings for apparatus such as measuring instruments, watch movements or the like



Nov. 15, 1966 PIERRE-ANTOINE NARDIN 3,

CLOSING MEANS OF CASINGS FOR APPARATUS CH AS MEASURING INSTRUMENTS, WATCH MOVEMENTS 0 HE LIKE Filed Feb. :5, 1964 fig? United States Patent 3,284,998 CLOSING MEANS OF CASINGS FOR APPARATUS SUCH AS MEASURING INSTRUMENTS, WATCH MOVEMENTS OR THE LIKE Pierre-Antoine Nardin, Rue Beau-Site 13, Le Locle, Switzerland Filed Feb. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 341,931 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Feb. 8, 1963, 1,555/63; Jan. 24, 1964, 898/64 7 Claims. (Cl. 58-90) This invention relates to the closing means of casings for apparatus such as measuring instruments, watch movements or the like, and in particular to the means provided for holding a closing member in closing position in a removable manner.

With Wristwatches the glass has already been used as removable closing member. With these known watches the glass is removably secured to .a cup-shaped holding member which simultaneously constitutes the Iwatchcase bottom, the case band and the glass receiving bezel, and moreover carries fixing means for the wrist band. The watch movement is set into this holding member and the glass then set in place in order to close the casing. To receive the glass the bezel portion of the holding memher is provided with a cylindrical lodging comp-rising an annular bottom face constituting "a bearing shoulder and a cylindrical bearing surface surrounding this bearing shoulder and extending above the same. The glass comprises a cylindrical wall at its periphery, which is adapted to the cylindrical lodging of the holding member. When the glass is in closing position, its cylindrical wall is pressed against the cylindrical bearing surface of the holding member either under the action of the glass elasticity or of a strengthening ring located inside the cylindrical glas wall. To open these known casings the peripheral glass wall is gripped by means of -a tool comprising a plurality of gripping members adapted for seizing the peripheral glass wall and pressing the same inwards.

Adjusting these known closing means is, however, not easy. If the radial pressure exerted by the peripheral glass wall against the cylindrical bearing surface of the corresponding lodging of the glass holding member is too weak, the seal between the glass and its holding member is not tight; it may even occur that the glass falls from its lodging in particular upon temperature variations. If the radial pressure of the peripheral glass wall against the cylindrical bearing surface of its lodging is on the contrary too strong, the pressure which must be exerted on the glass to open the casing may either injure the outer glass surface or cause the strengthening ring located within the peripheral glass wall to be pressed beyond its limit of elasticity. The known closing means can moreover only be used 'with casing comprising a circular glass.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide casings with closing means which permit the casing membars to be manufactured with broader tolerances than with the known closing means and which can also be used with casings having a noncircular shape.

With the closing means according to the invention the peripheral wall portion of the removable closing member carries an outer rim which passes under an inner rim of the holding member to which the closing member is secured.

ince the removable closing member is retained in closing position on its holding member by the mutual engagement of two rims, the diameters of the closing member and of its lodging on the corresponding holding member no longer need be made with a great precision; variations of these diameters in a series of pieces are indeed automatically compensated by said rims which engage each other to a more or less great extent.

3,284,998 Patented Nov. 15, 1966 ice of the seal between the closing member and the holding member to 'which it is removably secured, a sealing gasket can be set on the bearing shoulder forming the bottom of the lodging of the closing member, so that the peripheral wall portion of this closing member tightly presses this sealing gasket onto said bearing shoulder when the closing member is in closing position.

In a preferred embodiment, the face of the holding member rim turned towards the inner space of the casing is slightly inclined, so that the radial pressure which tends to open the peripheral wall portion of the closing member, when the same is set in place and then released, causes the outer edge of the rim of this closing member to slide along said inclined face of the holding member, thus providing for a progressively increasing pressure which will be exerted in axial direction on the sealing gasket, said pressure depending on the elasticity of the closing memher.

In order to facilitate setting the closing member in place when closing the casing, the inner rim of the holding member can be provided with an inclined inner face of engagement and the outer rim of the closing member with an outer face of engagement inclined like the face of engagement of the holding member and adapted so as to have a part which enters the face of engagement of the holding member when the closing member is freely placed on this holding member.

Further objects of the invention will still become apparent in the course of the following description.

Four embodiments of the closing means according to the invention and three modifications thereof are represented diagrammatically and by way of example in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is -a part diametrical section of the first embodiment;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views similar to that of FIG. 1 showing two modifications of the first embodimerit;

FIG. 4 is a section similar to that of FIG. 1 showing the second embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a part of FIG. 4 on a larger scale, said part constituting the third modification;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a part of the third embodiment and it also shows a tool in section, which can be used for opening the casing, and

FIG. 7 is a part sectional view of the fourth embodiment.

The casing represented in FIG. 1 is that of a wristwatch. It comprises a holding member 1 simultaneously serving as watchcase bottom and as case band carrying the usual wrist-band attaching lugs (not shown). A recess lodging 2 is formed in the upper part of member 1 to reoeive a peripheral section of the glass 3 which constitutes the closing member of the watchcase. This lodging 2 ext-ends all round the watchcase axis. Its bottom face constitutes a bearing shoulder which is surrounded by a portion of member 1 carry-ing a rim or shoulder 9 projecting inwards therefrom and extending above said bearing shoulder. A Watch movement 4 is mounted in member 1 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art by means of an encasing ring 5 and latches 6. At its periphe-ry the glass 3 comprises a wall portion 7 carrying an outer rim 8 extending around the whole glass. By pressing the wall portion 7 inwards, this portion 7 can be deformed resiliently to such an extent that rim 8 may pass freely through the space encircled by rim 9. When glass 3 has been set in place as shown in FIG. 1, i.e. when the glass 3 is in closing position, its outer rim 8 engages rim 9 of member 1 by :passing under the same. The

To ensure the tightness lower face of rim 9 is slightly inclined. A sealing gasket 11 is set on the bearing shoulder constituting the bottom face of lodging 2. When the glass 3 has been set in place, the mutual engagement of rims 8 and- 9 causes the lower surface of wall portion 7 to press gasket 11 on said bearing shoulder until portion 7 bears on the periphery of dial 12 carried by movement 4.

To remove glass 3 from member 1, when wall portion 7 is cylindrical, any one of the standard tools on sale can be used. The resilient deformation of glass 3 produced by such a tool, when pressing portion 7 inwards, permits rim 8 of being released from rim 9 thus enabling removal of the glass and opening the casing.

The glass can be set in place to close the casing again by means of the same tool. Upon subsequent release of portion 7 of the glass, rim 8 moves outwards by elasticity and its upper outer edge slides along the inclined face 10 of rim 9. The gasket 11 is thus progressively pressed more and more against the bearing shoulder constituting the bottom of lodging 2 by a force which solely depends on the glass elasticity so that the sealing gasket will never be squashed.

Instead of providing the wall on dial 12 directly, as to bear thereon the modification of gasket 11a and ring FIG. 3.

The use of the closing means according to the invention is not limited to closing members consisting of a watch glass; they could also be used with a metallic closing member. In a watch these improved closing means can also be used if the closing member is constituted by the watchcase bottom, as .shown in the second embodiment (FIG. 4). In this embodiment the glass 15 is permanently fixed in a cylindrical lodging of the case band 17 in the usual manner, i.e. by means of a strengthening ring 16. The casing comprises a removable bottom 18 having a peripheral wall portion 19 carrying an outer rim 20. The case band 17 is provided at its lower part with a lodging 21 similar to lodging 2 of the first embodiment. An inner rim 22 covers said lodging. The two rims and 22 cooperate with each other in the same manner as rims 8 and 9 of the first embodiment. As in the first embodiment the tightness of the .seal between the removable closing member and its holding member, i.e. between the bottom and the case band is ensured by a sealing gasket 23 located in lodging 21.

Instead of an independent sealing gasket made for instance of rubber-like material, a gasket rigidly fixed for instance to the closing member could also be used, as shown in the modification of FIG. 5. In this modification portion 7 so that it bears portion 7 could also be arranged so by means of a ring 24, as shown in FIG. 2 or by means of the sealing 24, as shown in the modification of the sealing gasket is constituted by a piece 25 made of a polyamide which can be cast on the watchcase bottom. For the purpose of securing the sealing gasket to the watchcase bottom satisfactorily, an annular projection 26 having a fish tail shaped cross-section is formed at the upper part of a cylindrical wall outer rim 28 which constitutes Due to the shape of projection 26 the gasket 25 is rigidly anchored to the casing bottom, thus simplifying the handling operations when assembling the casing.

from a watchcase and pressing the tlatter. In this instance the tool to be used, however, comprises four strong gripping members 13 which are adapted for seizing the glass at its corners and four weaker gripping members 14 10- can be performed by cated opposite the glass sides. Closing this gripping tool means of a circular ring shiftably mounted around the gripping members 13, 14 and pr vided with a truncated conical inn-er closing tface engaging correspondingly shaped surface portions formed on the outer surface of gripping members '13 and 14. Upon closing said gripping tool on the glass peripheral wall, it can be observed that the middle portions of each side thereof moves inwards farther than the corners and that the rim 30 can accordingly be disengaged from the corresponding inner rim of the casing member holding the glass.

It the glass had another shape than that represented in FIG. 6, a similar gripping tool could still be used for removing the glass and setting it in place. The lodging provided in the gripping have to be made with a shape corresponding to that of the glass. If the gripping members of such a tool can be identical and arranged symmetrically with a circular glass, the tool is advantageously provided with stronger gripping members to seize the corners or the portions with a smaller radius of curvature of a glass having a noncircular shape.

The closing means according to the fourth embodiment (FIG. 7) are arranged on a wrist-watch similar to that of the first embodiment. Its casing also comprises a metallic holding member 31 constituting the bottom, the case band and the bezel of the watchcase. A movement 32 is mounted in this holding member 31 by means of an encasing ring 33. Member 31 is closed by a glass 34 provided with a peripheral wall 35 carrying a rim 36 the outer face 37 of which is inclined with respect to the casing axis. With a circular watch, face 37 is thus truncated conical, while with a square watch this face has the shape of the outer surface of a truncated pyramid.

When glass 34 is in closing position as shown in the drawing, rim 36 enters a lodging 38 of ing inclined in the same manner. Rim 40 has moreover a lower face 42 which is also inclined.

The sizes of rims 40 and 36 of member 31 and glass 34, respectively, are chosen so that the glass face 37 has a part entering face 41 of rim 40 when the glass 34 is freely placed on member 31 before setting it in place.

To perform this operation, the glass 34 needs only be placed on member31 and then pressed in axial direction. This pressure causesthe face of engagement 37 of the glass 34 to slide along the face of engagement 41 of mem- During this motion the peripheral wall 35 of 34 expands so that rim 36 40 of member 31 of the glass passes under rim while resiliently pressing the sealing as well as in radial direction removed from rim 40.

As with the first embodiment the glass 34 also bears on the periphery of the dial The closing means according to this last embodiment vantages, on the one hand, that they avoid time wasting members of this tool would only.

manipulations in closing the casing, and on the other hand, that they prevent the closing member from being urged inadvertently beyond its limit of elasticity when the easing is closed. When the casing has to be closed in the first three embodiments, the Workman has no mark which indicates exactly to which extent the peripheral wall portion of the closing member must be deformed for enabling this closing member to be set in closing position. Now, to be sure that the outer rim of the closing member will pass by the inner rim of the holding member on the first attempt, the Workman could be tempted to deform the peripheral wall of the closing member excessively.

Various changes in the shape, sizes and arrangement of parts can be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. A casing for enclosing an apparatus such as a measuring instrument, a time movement, etc., comprising: a case member which includes a side wall portion extending axially from a radial wall portion, said wall portions defining a space for receiving said apparatus, one axial end of said side wall portion being connected to said radial wall portion and the other axial end of said side wall portion defining an access opening for said apparatus, a removable closure member for sealing said access opening, said other end including releasable gripping means for holding said removable closure member, said gripping means being comprised of a pair of radially inwardly projecting shoulders axially spaced apart from each other and defining therebetween a peripheral recess, said closure member comprising an axially extending side Wall connected at one end to the periphery of a radially extending wall, the other end of said side wall being free and comprising a radially outwardly extending rim, said rim being received within said recess and being radially overlapped by said shoulders and thereby confined against axial movement by said shoulders, said closure member side wall extending axially externally of said case member side wall portion to an extent whereby it is adapted to be circumferentially gripped by a tool, said closure member side Wall being resiliently displaceable in an inwardly radial direction to an extent whereby said rim may be displaced out of overlapping relationship with said shoulders so that said shoulders will not obstruct movement of said rim in an axial direction.

2. The casing of claim 1, including a resilient sealing gasket in said recess, said gasket being axially compressed between one radial face of said closure member rim and one of said shoulders, an opposite radial face on said rim being thereby pressed by said .gasket against a corresponding radial face on said other shoulder.

3. The casing of claim 2, said corresponding radial face on said other shoulder being inclined relative to the axis of said casing whereby said recess is gradually smaller in the outward radial direction thereof, said rim being adapted to slide along said inclined radial face under urging of said gasket as said rim enters or leaves said recess.

4. The casing of claim 3, said casing being for a time watch movement, said closure member being a Watch glass.

5. The casing of claim 4, said glass having a polygonal radial contour.

6. The casing of claim 3, said casing being for a time movement, said closure member being the watchcase bottom located axially opposite to the watch glass.

7. The casing of claim 2, said other shoulder including an inclined inner axial face and said rim including a correspondingly inclined outer axial face, the smallest end of said rim face freely fitting Within the largest end of said shoulder inclined face, said closure member side wall being flexibly radially displaceable pursuant to said rim inclined face sliding axially along the corresponding shoulder inclined face.

References Cited by the Examiner FOREIGN PATENTS 1,239,947 6/ 1960 France.

250,111 5/ 1948 Switzerland. 25 3,750 11/ 1948 Switzerland. 379,406 8/ 1964 Switzerland.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. LEO SMILOW, LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Examiners. G. F. BAKER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CASING FOR ENCLOSING AN APPARATUS SUCH AS A MEASURING INSTRUMENT, A TIME MOVEMENT, ETC, COMPRISING: A CASE MEMBER WHICH INCLUDES A SIDE WALL PORTION EXTENDING AXIALLY FROM A RADIAL WALL PORTION, SAID WALL PORTIONS DEFINING A SPACE FOR RECEIVING SAID APPARATUS, ONE AXIAL END OF SAID SIDE WALL PORTION BEING CONNECTED TO SAID RADIAL WALL PORTION AND THE OTHER AXIAL END OF SAID SIDE WALL PORTION DEFINING AN ACCESS OPENING FOR SAID APPARATUS, A REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER FOR SEALING SAID ACCESS OPENING, SAID OTHER END INCLUDING RELEASABLE GRIPPING MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID REMOVABLE CLOSURE MEMBER, SAID GRIPPING MEANS BEING COMPRISED OF A PAIR OF RADIALLY INWARDLY PROJECTING SHOULDERS AXIALLY SPACED APART FROM EACH OTHER AND DEFINING THEREBETWEEN A PERIPHERAL RECESS, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER COMPRISING AN AXIALLY EXTENDING SIDE WALL CONNECTED AT ONE END TO THE PERIPHERY OF A RADIALLY EXTENDING WALL, THE OTHER END OF SAID SIDE WALL BEING FREE AND COMPRISING A RADIALLY OUTWARDLY EXTENDING RIM, SAID RIM BEING RECEIVED WITHIN SAID RECESS AND BEING RADIALLY OVERLAPPED BY SAID SHOULDERS AND THEREBY CONFINED AGAINST AXIAL MOVEMENT BY SAID SHOULDERS, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER SIDE WALL EXTENDING AXIALLY EXTERNALLY OF SAID CASE MEMBER SIDE WALL PORTION TO AN EXTENT WHEREBY IT IS ADAPTED TO BE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY GRIPPED BY A TOOL, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER SIDE WALL BEING RESILIENTLY DISPLACEABLE IN AN INWARDLY RADIAL DIRECTION TO AN EXTENT WHEREBY SAID RIM MAY BE DISPLACED OUT OF OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID SHOULDERS SO THAT SAID SHOULDERS WILL NOT OBSTRUCT MOVEMENT OF SAID RIM IN AN AXIAL DIRECTION. 